Throughout history man has answered serious ethical dilemmas. Today, we have more difficult and more ethical problems everyday that need answers. It can be very hard to decide what is truly right and wrong. It can be hard to navigate these questions and requires time and effort. In this essay, I explain what I believe to be the best way to answering these questions. I review my previous essays and attempt to walk through the ethical problem of abortion.
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Today’s society and media are plagued by political viewpoints on ethical dilemmas. One political party leans one way on an ethical problem and the other party leans the other way. Citizens listen to the political leaders in the party they hold the most trust in. It is not enough that citizens listen and just agree with the points of their affiliated party. They must, instead, ask the question on hand to themselves and seek their own opinion to answer the ethical problem. How, then, do we answer these seemingly huge and deeply thought-evoking questions? Ethical problems should be answered based on facts gained through research, readings, and discussion. After gathering these facts and opinions from others, we should begin to justify our own position and what makes the most logical sense to develop a solution. Within this essay I will explain how I have used this process to write my two previous essays. I will then look at abortion in the context of an ethical issue being answered didactically within this process. Before this process, however, it should be noted that religion may play a huge role in most people’s moral decision-making. It is hard to get rid of this fact, but I would say it is necessary to concede any religious beliefs towards an ethical decision and try to answer your question without the use of religious reasoning. We should then use plain logical reasoning to answer these ethical questions.
In my first essay, “Plato’s Politics”, I discuss the lessons we can learn from Plato’s ideas that he writes about in The Republic, particularly meritocracy and his four cardinal virtues. To answer this, I took the same steps as noted above with slight variations. The first week as we read certain exerts from Plato’s The Republic, we talked about his ideas. Some arguing for and others against Plato’s ideas. I then took both views and concluded my own that Plato was correct with a slight variation. I also wrote of David Hume’s view on suicide. Much like my first essay on Plato, I read Hume’s work and heard arguments from classmates on the two sides. In my personal belief, reflected in my second essay, I answer the points Hume raises against individuals who oppose justifying suicide. It is this same way that I and others should answer views on modern ethical problems.
Perhaps the most debated or talked about ethical issue is the issue on abortion. It is a topic that has split the political aisle. A few main points come up that are at the heart of abortion. There is the question of rights for both the mother and baby. Additionally, one should think about the personhood of the baby. When does a fetus become a person? If you understand this point, pro-choice beliefs would ask what of the woman’s consent in the action of rape? Or what of the woman’s health in a problematic pregnancy?
As I stated before, the first step is researching the topic. This is a big topic that could require countless hours of research. An individual shouldn’t just research one side of a topic but all sides. This allows a full expanse into understanding both sides of an ethical dilemma. For abortion, the first question of personhood of a fetus could be researched on the grounds of science. Does a heartbeat count as a sign of vital life? Is conception the first sign of personhood? These questions have both a scientific argument and a moral argument. We then can read literature from both sides. In class we read Judith Thomson’s A Defense of Abortion. She asks the questions that were expressed above. After research, we can answer a few of those. For example, a study conducted in 1996 concluded that only about 32,000 pregnancies were a result of rape. Of these only 16,000 opted for abortion (Holmes.) Current studies published on healthresearchfunding.org showed that less than 1% of abortions were conducted on women whose pregnancy resulted from rape. Therefore, we know that these types of abortions are very rare. We should then, focus on the majority of abortions, the 99%.
To answer the question of the mother’s health in a problematic pregnancy, there are a lot of factors to look at. For example, the length of the pregnancy. As well as the reason behind the problem. Obviously, the ideal situation would be neither the fetus nor the mother dies. Here is where healthy debate and conversation about this topic would help shape a person’s decision. After research and discussion, an individual must then decide. I would say it definitely depends on the situation. In most cases, I would agree with the decision that would allow the mother to live. Again, these cases are a small percent and we can then focus on what the abortion debate really asks. When does a fetus or a sexual act result in a person? It becomes a very hard topic to discuss scientific. But on logic we know that given the right time, nutrition, and care, the clump of cells will become a human. Thomson wrote about this and compared it to an acorn becoming an oak tree. However, to compare a human’s life value to that of a tree seems incomparable.
Abortion is a very tricky ethical dilemma that plagues our society. It requires a lot of research, discussion and to some extent, personal experience. It is hard to decide what is best for someone but taking a problem like abortion is best answered when a collective group talk about it with facts. For abortion, there is a rare case that is acceptable. That is when the health of a baby and mother are at risk. Otherwise, it seems unethical to kill the possibility of a productive human just like it is unethical to kill a human.
In conclusion, ethical dilemmas affect every aspect of our lives. The need for people to identify and answer these problems is increasing. Individuals need to understand the importance of research and discussion when trying to develop their opinions. It is imperative that these decisions not be made lightly but instead intelligently and to best try to allow for individual rights and freedoms. As we look at historical ethical problems and relate them to our time, we know that these issues are getting more difficult to answer. We must first try to answer these questions without using religion as our main premise. After this, we must learn from other opinions and facts to develop our own and be able to rebut those against ours with logical facts and understanding. These decisions decide life and death. The decisions are what will shape our future and help future generations solve ethical problems for themselves.
Works Cited
Thomson, Judith Jarvis. “A Defense of Abortion.” Philosophy & Public Affairs, vol. 1, no. 1, 1971, pp. 47–66. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2265091.
“18 Shocking Abortion Statistics Rape Victims.” HRF, 4 Mar. 2015, https://healthresearchfunding.org/18-shocking-abortion-statistics-rape-victims/.
Holmes, M M, et al. “Rape-Related Pregnancy: Estimates and Descriptive Characteristics from a National Sample of Women.” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Aug. 1996, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8765248.
Documents read in class, previous essay submissions, notes in class, writing center, reviewed by friend (Kelly Light)